A vehicle may house occupants of various sizes. Structures of the vehicle, such as an instrument panel, may deform to control kinematics of an occupant of a front seat, e.g., during a vehicle impact. A relatively large occupant may benefit from a stiffer instrument panel that absorbs more energy for a certain amount of deformation of the instrument panel, and a relatively small occupant may benefit from a softer instrument panel that absorbs less energy for the same amount of deformation of the instrument panel.
For example, the instrument panel may include structural components, e.g., beams, and coverings on the structural components, e.g., a knee bolster. The knee bolster is often made of padded structures to absorb energy during a vehicle impact when a knee of an occupant impacts the knee bolster. In such an example, a relatively stiff knee bolster may absorb relatively more energy prior to abutting the structural component, and thus is beneficial for a relatively large occupant. However, this relatively stiff knee bolster is not as easily deformed by a relatively small occupant. The relative small occupant benefits from a relatively soft knee bolster that allows for more deformation at the lower impact forces applied by the small occupant.